And so he pursued it, writing the part of the walrus-fixated scientist for his Red State lead Michael Parks, and even sending the script to Quentin Tarantino to see if he were interested in co-starring—all things that, once you’ve already gotten really stoned and written a movie about a man being surgically transformed into a walrus, sound perfectly reasonable. And as it turns out, it was: Smith is really putting Clerks III on hold with hopes to have Tusk ready for Sundance in January, calling it an “ivory bridge, if you will” to the sequel, one that will give him the chance to get back into the swing of indulging his every whim behind a camera again.

To that end, he’s hired Justin Long to play the walrus-man—saying he needs Long’s “expressive eyes;” sorry, Wilford Brimley—and is now out there selling the story as “Parks versus Long trying to answer the age-old question, ‘Is man indeed a walrus at heart?’” Indeed, it is a question that has long plagued so many who enjoy unlimited access to weed and financing.